The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to heat sink retention in such systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs is and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
New processors are requiring larger and heavier heatsink/fansink solutions, which have created additional complexity during manufacture. In order to preserve contact between the processor die and the heat sink, the fastener solutions create a large amount of preload force and, as a consequence, the fastener has become complicated to assemble. The difficulty in assembly of current solutions also causes ergonomic issues to assemblers and is very difficult to disassemble. As the complexity of the heat sink and retention mechanisms increases, the number/cost of parts and time to assemble has also increased.
One solution uses metal leaf springs placed on each side of the heat sink, attached to plastics bases. This method creates an accessibility issue inside the chassis creating four areas that need to be accessed in order to assemble and disassemble the heat sink. This drives cost into the system.
Another solution provides metal clips that span across the middle of the heat sink and attach to the middle socket. This creates a single contact area on the sink allowing excessive wobble of the sink. The attachment method to current sockets is unsatisfactory.
A further solution uses single lever mechanism to actuate a torsion system that rotates into place retaining the heat sink against shock events during shipping. The actuation of the torsion system is created by a Geneva gear mechanism that locks the system from rotation at its lower and upper position.
Therefore, what is needed is a heat sink retention device that provides a balanced load on the heat sink, reduces the number of parts required, is cost efficient and decreases assembly time.
One embodiment, accordingly, provides a heat sink retention apparatus including a frame for supporting a heat sink. A plurality of flexible members extend from opposite ends of the frame. Each flexible member includes a retention tab. At least one of the retention tabs includes a retraction tab.
A principal advantage of this embodiment is that the springs can be balanced to provide equal pressure. The number of parts required is reduced. The cost is low and the device requires decreased assembly time.